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FARRANFORE was the venue
for the East Kerry Championship Division 2 final on Sunday morning and
Kilcummin emerged deserved winners after a massive battle with neighbours
Fossa.

Playing with the light
breeze Kilcummin got off to a fine start and two early frees from centre-forward
Cian Foley were followed by a brace from play by the same player as Jack
McClain and Colm Kelliher were dominating in midfield. Corner-forwards Evan
O’Sullivan and Micheal Sweeney were working hard in showing for the ball up
front with Mark O’Shea moving to good effect at full-forward.

However, Fossa turned the
game on its head with swift counter-attacking play and two quick goals – the
first a penalty – and two points saw the opposition lead 2-2 to 0-5 after a further
free from Cian Foley. Kilcummin continued to work hard and with Dara
O’Callaghan now influential in midfield and Cian Murphy and Andrew Lowin
excelling in the full-back line, further scores followed from Cian Foley and
Jack McClain.

The pace of the game was
impressive with wing-backs Dara O’Shea and Turlough O’Connor raiding down the
wings and involved in creating chances for the forwards. Wing-forward Oisín
O’Leary was also prominent at this stage, working hard, tackling well and
strong in possession.

Goalkeeping

However, we were grateful
to excellent goalkeeper Jaden Tynan for a superb point-blank save as despite
conceding two points, further scores from the very lively Adam O’Sullivan–back
after injury, Dara O’Callaghan from distance and Mark O’Shea saw the teams
level at the break on a 0-10 to 2-4 score-line.

Opportunities to score
were hard to come by early in the second-half but with Jack McClain and Dara
O’Callaghan getting a foothold in midfield. Kilcummin slowly picked off points
against a crowded defence with scores from Cian Foley (free), two great strikes
from Mark O’Shea and another from Dara O’Callaghan to open a small gap.

Again, Fossa came back to
reduce the margin but with Colin O’Leary showing well and using his pace to
good effect he slotted over from close range. Points from Cian Foley, Jack
McClain and impressive sub Padraic Moynihan saw Kilcummin go four points clear
with less than 10 minutes remaining. Superb defending from Andrew Lowin and a
great block-down from Dara O’Callaghan kept the opposition at bay, albeit
temporarily.

Fossa were not done yet
though and Kilcummin were grateful to Killian O’Brien and Cian Murphy for some
stout defence. However, another goal and point for the opposition saw the sides
level with time running out and momentum against us. To the team’s credit
though Kilcummin remained composed and great team-play saw the ball worked to
ice-cool sub Jack Fogarty who split the uprights with a fine point which
ultimately proved decisive.

Possession

Despite some added time
Kilcummin retained possession well before excellent Firies referee James
O’Sullivan brought a cracking contest to a conclusion. Team captain Cian Foley
was presented with the cup by East Kerry Board official Christy O’Leary.

This win ends a superb
year for Kilcummin U16’s with Cups collected for County League Division 2 and
now EK Championship Division 2 while nine of our players also added County
Championship U16 medals to their collection with Eoghan Ruadh.

Well done to the entire
panel – Gearoid Mulvihill, Kirill Healy, Oran Dwyer (injured), Daniel Horgan
and Robbie Moynihan – all of whom played a part in our vital win over Firies –
this win was just reward for the outstanding commitment to training right
throughout the year.